Magic Cove
by Elani
Summary: We know Draco and Pansy did not stay together.  This is why.  Draco/Pansy Draco/Astoria.  Some AU elements.


Authors Note – Mostly canon although you will need to ignore the massively AU point that in this story Pansy was not in the Great Hall in seventh year to shout about sending Harry out to Voldemort. Set after the books however I am pretty sure everything else mentioned is as it is in the books. Inspired by Hermione but you'll see what I mean when you read.

_Magic Cove_

He watched as the girl with the tumbling chestnut hair whispered in her companion's ear and giggled. The dagger in his chest twisted painfully and his fingers twitched involuntarily before he curled them tightly into a fist on the table top. 

She had dyed her jet black hair a golden chestnut two years ago. It suited this bright, summery town but Draco still preferred her with the short black cut she had favoured at school. It had helped her cultivate that severe, hard persona he'd loved so much. 

Abruptly he stood up, shoving his chair back noisily from the table. He had watched the couple for long enough. Only those closest to him in the busy diner looked up from their conversations at the noise but they paid him no real mind. She did not either. 

There had once been a time when Draco Malfoy's presence in a room would never have gone unnoticed by Pansy Parkinson but that had been long ago, almost a different life for him and definitely a different one for her. He let the door slam noisily as he left the diner and turned right towards the seafront. It was warm in Magic Cove, it was always warm here. Draco hated it. 

He'd found her here a two years after the war ended. After the first Battle of Hogwarts in his sixth year many parents had kept their children at home, hidden behind their wards and charms. Many more had gone into hiding. Aurelius and Elvire Parkinson, staunch supporters of Voldemort both had one weakness, their only child Pansy. Afraid for her safety, afraid she may be forced to become a Death Eater, afraid she may actually have wanted to become one they had decided to hide her as best they could. So obliviating their only daughter's memory they had left her in a small muggle town in America called Magic Cove, with no idea where she had come from or who she was. The subtle nods to her true identity the Parkinson's couldn't resist leaving, choosing a hiding place called Magic Cove, leaving her to be found by a flower shop had been useless. It meant nothing to Pansy but had probably provided a deluded comfort for the Parkinson's as they fought and died for Voldemort. 

It had been chaotic when the war ended. Hundreds of witches and wizards had come out of hiding; families had been desperately searching for missing members. Some had been lucky. Some had not. For anyone who cared Pansy had been sorted into the "unreturned" category. Believed to have gone into hiding and then decided to just not to come back. She would not have been the only person after the war ended believed to have started a new life somewhere else. With both her parents dead and no other family who could have blamed her? Draco knew differently though. He had a whispered confession from Aurelius Parkinson as he lay dying. That Pansy was alive out there but she could not come back by herself. 

He was not sure exactly what spell they had placed on her or exactly where she was. Aurelius had died before he could get much more than that out of him. Draco was determined to find her though. He was a Malfoy and he had all the resources of the Malfoys at his disposal. 

Two years later he had found her. He had come to this antiquated muggle town, ready to reverse whatever spell they had placed on her, ready to take his Pansy home but he had found himself unable to. 

Pansy had been happy. 

Draco had seen Pansy happy before. When he invited her to the Yule Ball, the first time he kissed her, when they danced together at his parents New Year's Eve Ball but it was never an easy emotion on Pansy. It always felt as if she held it back, constrained it in case it was used to hurt her. All her emotions were tightly controlled, just like his own, to keep them both safe. Once in sixth year he had asked her if she was truly happy. She had smiled a sad smile and told him that because of who she had been born she could never allow herself to be. She understood so perfectly what it meant to be a pureblood, a Slytherin and a supporter in those times. Most of all she had understood him. 

Here in Magic Cove however Pansy's happiness was all-consuming and easy. Her eyes danced and laughed, her smiles came easily and often. She was relaxed and unguarded. She did not need to plan and scheme for status and power any longer. She did not need to constantly watch her back in case a fellow Slytherin stabbed her in it. She did not need to worry about what side of a war she had been on. 

Draco had found that he could not take that away from her. He watched her for a week as she went about her new life, going to school, giggling with her friends, working in the diner. He had watched and then he'd left. 

After that first time he had never meant to come back but that first visit turned into just one more which turned into once every year. He spent one day every year with Pansy and she did not even know. The silver haired boy who appeared only once a year in Magic Cove, the boy she had once loved, Pansy Parkinson did not even notice. She lived out her perfectly normal muggle life with her perfectly normal muggle friends, her perfectly normal muggle boyfriend and had no idea that once she had been called Pansy, once she had been a witch, once she had been his. 

As his thoughts had strayed Draco's feet had taken him to the beach of their own accord. He avoided the populated centre of the beach, busy with muggles and crossed the sand to the rocks enclosing the cove that gave the place its name. If he had a favourite place in Magic Cove it would be here, were it was always windy and grey upon the rocks. He sat down, staring out over the calm blue waters and wishing they were grey and tormented. 

He was to marry Astoria next week. He picked up a stone and let it drop from his fingers, watching as it bounced and zigzagged its way down to the sand. It landed with a thump of finality. He liked Astoria. She was pretty and interesting. Their relationship was uncomplicated- it had no need to be. It was just two people who liked each other's company, spending the rest of their lives together. Post war there was no need for the intrigues, the secrets and power games he and Pansy had been so good at playing. Pansy had been the perfect person for the war and Astoria was the perfect person for after it. 

He often wondered what would have happened to them if Pansy had not had her memory obliviated. He had a suspicion that they would not have known what to do once they lived in peaceful times and that they would have burnt each other out. Pansy and he had been brought up for the power games of Slytherin and that war and without them they would have both been lost without a purpose. Astoria was a child of war too but not like them. She lived for the peaceful times and perhaps she was the person to help him through them.

"Hi!"

Draco whirled round, his hand instantly shooting to the pocket his wand was in. He froze when he saw the speaker however and his hand dropped limply to his side. She tossed her chestnut waves over her shoulder and smiled apologetically up at him. 

"I am so sorry I totally did not mean to startle you. I just…well you were in the diner before weren't you?"

Draco nodded unable to speak as she smiled warmly at him. His Pansy had never smiled at him like that. 

"I thought so. You have been to Magic Cove before haven't you? I recognised you. It's beautiful here isn't it? This is my favourite spot on the whole beach too." 

She gazed off towards the sea and Draco felt a pang inside. He found his voice finally. 

"You…you recognise me?" 

She looked back at him. "Yeah sure. You holiday here. I've seen you a few times, you know, over the years. Magic Cove is such a small town you know everyone here and eventually all the holiday makers who come back over and over as well. We get a lot of those."The thread of hope ignited at her recognition of him died in his chest. "Yes I er…like the scenery here." It felt like a colossal anti-climax to Draco, to finally be talking to Pansy after all these years and for him to hardly be able to form an interesting and well-rounded sentence. Yet she did not seem to mind. 

"It is beautiful isn't it? I love it so much here. How much longer are you staying?" 

"I leave tonight." The unintentional wistfulness in his tone embarrassed him. She seemed to think nothing more of it then the sadness of the last hours on holiday. 

"Oh what a shame! Well I am sure you will be back to visit us again. I'm Carlie by the way." 

She smiled one of her easy smiles at him as she offered him her warm, golden brown hand. As he took it he remembered a time when those hands had been as pale and cold as ice. 

"Draco." 

"Oh. What an unusual name. Wow." 

He nodded. "Family heirloom you could say." 

She gave him an easy smile again. "Well I better go but next time you're here make sure you come and say hello." 

As she turned to leave he couldn't stop himself. "I'm getting married next week," he blurted out. She turned back to him in a whirl of chestnut and smiles. 

"Oh that is amazing! I am so happy for you. For you both! Congratulations! What's your fiancés name?" 

"Astoria." 

"What a beautiful name. I bet she is beautiful too." 

Draco nodded. "She is." 

Pansy smiled so warmly at him then he thought his heart would break. 

"Next time you come you should definitely bring her. I bet she will love Magic Cove just as much as you do." 

"Maybe," he whispered. 

"Good luck for the wedding." 

Pansy turned and walked off. Even her walk seemed happy to him. He jumped up suddenly. "Carlie wait!" 

She whipped her head round. The breeze caught her hair, blowing it about her face. 

"Are you happy?" 

Confusion drifted across her features but then she smiled a blinding smile. "Yes. Yes I am. See you next time Draco." 

It felt like the ice encasing his heart was breaking apart as he whispered back. 

"There won't be a next time, Pansy Parkinson."


End file.
